Committee advances playground-accessibility bill, extends military leave to police and narrows lottery disclosure amid broader unanimous votes

The General Laws and Technology Committee in Richmond voted to report several bills and refer others, moving a suite of measures forward while debating privacy and accessibility issues.

Delegate Cohn, the patron of House Bill 1800, told the committee the bill "adds playgrounds to the definition of places of public accommodation" to ensure “persons with disabilities have the right to the full and free use of public playgrounds.” The committee voted to report HB 1800 with a unanimous roll-call of Ayes 15, no 0; the bill was sent on for further consideration.

The bill, Cohn said, is meant to clarify existing language in the Code of Virginia section that the committee cited during discussion: "51.5-44, the rights of persons with disability in public places and places of public accommodation." Cohn and supporters told the committee the change is intended to make accessible design requirements clear when playgrounds are built or renovated. "As you're renovating or building new facilities, you would need to make sure that they are compatible," Cohn said.

Lottery disclosure

A separate, contested vote focused on House Bill 1799, which would lower the threshold at which the Virginia Lottery publicly discloses winners' names and hometowns from $10,000,000 to $1,000,000. Delegate Wyatt, the…